30-Year Plan for mideast oil + US Meddling in Iran in late 1940's Early 50's

Mr. Pipes - You replied you had not heard of it (30-year plan to gain control over middle east oil). I understand, and am as concerned as anyone about Islamo-Fascism, and see it as a real and very serious threat. But I want to understand how and why it reared it's ugly head in recent years. Another issue I raised in my earlier comment was the possible resentment about US's 'meddling' in Iran’s internal politics in late 1940-early 50's when their Prime Minister nationalized their oil in response to what was felt to be an unfair share of revenue from it. Generations of Iranians who were aware of this, and saw its aftermath – our replacing their Prime Minister with the Shah who preceded the Ayatoli – may have festered resentment which spun thru various forms including seeing us thru fanatical religious lenses as 'The Great Satan'. The Library of Congress has what ought to be an objective or 'US-favorable' account on it's Country Studies web. Theirs and other accounts may be found by searching ‘Iran + history’ on Yahoo or Google.

There is also reasonable evidence that we had an ulterior motive in invading Iraq – referred to above as the 3-year plan. An article called "The 30-Year Itch" by Dreyfuss, published in Motherjones.

It is availbale on line by searching on the title. Here are a few paragraphs indicating its veracity is supported by statements by reliable sources in high places. In 1975, while Akins was ambassador in Saudi Arabia, an article headlined"Seizing Arab Oil" appeared in Harper's. The author, who used the pseudonym Miles Ignotus, was identified as "a Washington-based professorand defense consultant with intimate links to high-level U.S. policymakers." The article outlined, as Akins puts it, "how we could solve all our economic and political problems by taking over the Arab oil fields [and] bringing in Texans and Oklahomans to operate them." Simultaneously, a rash of similar stories appeared in other magazines and newspapers. "I knew that it had to have been the result of a deep background briefing," Akins says. "You don't have eight people coming up with the same screwy idea at the same time,independently.

"Then I made a fatal mistake," Akins continues. "I said on television that anyone who would propose that is either a madman, a criminal, or an agent of the Soviet Union." Soon afterward, he says, he learned that thebackground briefing had been conducted by his boss, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Akins was fired later that year.

Kissinger has never acknowledged having planted the seeds for the article. But in an interview with Business Week that same year, he delivered a thinly veiled threat to the Saudis, musing about bringing oil pricesdown through "massive political warfare against countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran to make them risk their political stability and maybe their security if they did not cooperate."

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".